Dr. Galen Ren flashed his characteristic wide smile as Ceres entered the clinic, followed by Waithe and Clavis. Alina stayed behind at the cottage to clean up, promising to join them later.

Galen took up Ceres' hand and kissed it, completely ignoring the others. "My day brightens to have such a beautiful Lady within my place of healing. How may I be of service?"

"Actually, we come to offer our assistance again. Are there those who might benefit?"

"Already have I benefited, my dear Lady. Come with me." Galen put his arm around her as he led her to the back of the clinic. Clavis smirked, trying to cover his reaction with a hand, while Waithe rolled his eyes.

Waithe and the others followed to a small area containing a cot and a wooden chair. A brown curtain partitioned it off from the large room. Galen pulled the curtain closed as he entered with Ceres, leaving the others outside. Waithe drew nearer and listened to the conversation.

Galen talked smoothly. "My dear Lady, you would honor me if you would join me for dinner this evening, just the two of us. I know an inn that serves the most exquisite pastries."

There was a pause. "Dr. Ren, thank you, but nay. My heart belongs to another."

His voice became brusque. "If he cares for you, then where is he?"

"He takes my daughter to safety. Dr. Ren, nay!"

Waithe yanked open the curtain and cast the doctor a warrior's glare and put his hand on the long knife at his belt. Galen gulped, pulling his hand off Ceres' shoulder and backing away from her. Quickly, he regained his composure.

The doctor bowed his head. "Very good, my Lady. I shall direct those patients in need of your skills to you." Waithe's narrowed eyes tracked him as he walked away.

Ceres let out a deep breath. "You were right about him, Father."

"There will always be men that play the games of seduction, but I think deep down he has a good heart. Look at the good work he does with his clinics. Now that he knows your boundaries, my dear daughter, I believe he shall respect them." He narrowed his eyes. "If not, I will help you remind him."

The first patient was a frail old man who struggled to draw a breath, wheezing and coughing such that it was difficult for him to speak. Clavis helped him limp to the cot and lie down. The old man's eyes grew wide in wonder as Ceres called a Life Spirit and Myr's umber light sparkled above him. His breathing deepened and color returned to his cheeks as the Magic did its work.

The old man reached up and grabbed her arm. "You be that woman! The healer, the bane of Darkness... My son-in-law you saved. Thank you for all you do."

Ceres smiled. "I be happy to have served."

Waithe nodded as Clavis helped the man on his way. "'The bane of Darkness', that seems an appropriate title."

Ceres dipped her head, a slight blush coming to her cheeks, but then jerked up as shouts erupted outside. Waithe stiffened upright and cocked his ear to the noise.

Clavis pulled back the curtain, his lips drawn tight. "Soldiers! Maybe a dozen on foot and horseback." He then dashed back to the front of the clinic.

Waithe took up Ceres' hand and raced passed a startled assistant to the back door. He stopped at the sound of footsteps and horses outside.

Galen called out to them. "Ceres, I have a place you may hide." He turned his body and motioned. "Quickly!"

In his office, he pulled back a worn rug. With a thin metal bar, he pried up a panel of the wooden floor planks to reveal a cavern underneath. Waithe marveled at the construction, had he not seen Galen lift the planks, he would not have known it was there.

Galen smiled broadly, he seemed proud of the hiding spot. "You are not the first to hide here. But, go! I will tell them you left previously."

Waithe climbed down the ladder. The hidden underground room was tall enough for him to stand upright and surprisingly spacious. A shelf lined one wall, holding various containers off the gravel floor and also what appeared to be a wine collection. Sunlight shining through small holes in the building foundation provided a faint illumination.

Ceres followed Waithe down but stopped to grasp the doctor's arm as he looked nervously away. "Thank you, Galen."

He nodded and replaced the floor panel.

Ceres wrapped her arms around herself and looked up at what was the floor of the clinic. Waithe could barely make out the sounds of the commotion above. The soldiers did not bother to wait for an invitation as they burst in the front and back doors simultaneously. Heavy footfalls shook off small clouds of dust from the floor joists above. The fine particles lit up as they passed through the sunlight, marking the path of the beams. Sounds of muffled shouts reached their ears.

The screams came next. Ceres jerked at a thud close above that sounded like someone fell to the floor. A desperate yell sounded like Galen's voice. A moment later, drops of a liquid seeped through the floor planks. She held out her hand and collected a drop in her hand, then recoiled as she realized it was blood.

The water in her eyes glistened in the dim light. "Father, we cannot let this continue!"

She steeled her expression and raised her arms. "Aer, come to me!"

A Spirit appeared in front of her, bathing the room in a pulsing yellow light. The air began to swirl about them, faster and faster. This was the Elemental Spirit of the Air, Waithe surmised. Boots stomped on the trap door above them. More cries of pain came from a location two paces to the side.

Ceres clenched her jaw as she turned toward her father. "Hold on to something."

His eyes went wide as he grasped the ladder. She thrust her hands up and a deafening blast of wind lifted the trap door panel along with whoever stood on it. The panel clattered to the side. Ceres pulled one hand back and another gust pushed an astonished black-uniformed soldier down through the opening. He landed on his back at Waithe's feet with a thud, his sword clattering beside him. Before the soldier could grasp the sword, Waithe struck him in the head with the hilt of his long-knife, rendering him unconscious.

With another tight swirling gust, Ceres levitated herself up through the hole in the floor, her blonde hair flying about an angry face. Waithe dropped his jaw, then rushed up the ladder behind her. Galen laid grasping a wound in his gut, a pool of blood growing around him. His breaths were quick and shallow as he struggled to focus his gaze. Loose papers swirled about the room in the induced wind.

She stalked slowly out of the office, her teeth bared and fists clenched tightly. The Spirit Aer seemed to match Ceres' rage, rapidly pulsing yellow light. Two soldiers lifted their blades to oppose her, but with an opening of her hand, she flung them hard against the wall with a tight pressure pulse. They slumped to the floor.

Another soldier came up behind her with a knife in his hand. Waithe dispatched him with one slice of a long-knife across the neck.

Bodies were strewn across the clinic treatment area and in the front reception area, some writhing and some motionless, victims of the soldier's wrath. The burly clinic security guard rested motionless slumped over a table with his throat slit. The receptionist cowered against a wall holding her arm, blood dripping down to the floor. Waithe felt the same rage that Ceres showed, the soldiers must have come here as much to exact some sort of a brutal vengeance as to seek a fugitive.

Ceres turned to two soldiers, scowling as they advanced. She slammed them back against a wall. With tight swirls of air, she lifted a pair of discarded swords. A flick of two fingers sent them flying, piercing the chests of the soldiers and tacking them to the wall. Waithe cut down another soldier who burst through the back door with a sword held high.

Ceres blew out the front door with a pressure pulse, striking hard another soldier who stood watch there. Those people left still standing in the clinic gave her a wide berth as she stepped out the door. With a twirl of a hand, she summoned a tight powerful whirlwind. The winds swept through the soldiers stationed outside, flinging them against trees and rocks or sending them flying high into the air only to crash down again to the ground.

One soldier remained standing, a young man with short blond hair, probably still a teenager. His black uniform seemed to swallow up his thin frame. He dropped his long-knife and raised his hands, trembling as Ceres approached. With a gust of wind, she flung him against the ivy-covered wall of the clinic.

She called out. "Phy, come to me!"

Phy's green light appeared but seemed dimmer than usual. Immediately the ivy vines twisted and grew, entangling the young soldier until he was tightly bound, immobile against the stacked-log wall. His face paled and his eyes went full open as Ceres came closer to him.

Her narrowed eyes burned with an unnatural rage, but her voice was measured. "Who sent you and why?"

The young soldier shook his head rapidly and pleaded, "I... I don't know. I was ordered here... We were to find some terrorists. Please..!"

She snarled, "Do you know how tight I can make these vines?"

Ceres swiveled a hand, but the vines loosened. She snapped her head around to the green light beside her. "Phy, what are you doing? I want them tighter!"

The vines loosened further as Phy vanished. Waithe came up to Ceres. A chill sped through him as he saw her eyes. The normally blue irises were streaked with black.

He put a hand on her arm and whispered, "Ceres, stop." She wrenched her arm away. "My dear Daughter, your eyes... The Darkness would take you." She paused with her mouth open. Waithe continued. "Remember those who love you, and whom you love. Think of that."

She held motionless for a moment. The blackness in her eyes faded away and she hung her head low. Waithe pulled her to his chest and wrapped one arm around her.

With the other arm, he pulled the vines away from the shocked soldier. "Go. And send word to Scias and Raste that we will come for them."

The young soldier scurried away, stumbling once as he looked back.

Ceres began to cry. Waithe stroked her head and spoke in gentle tones. "There be those injured within. Let us go see how we may help." She nodded her head with a sob.